Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your email address or mobile phone number.
Download to your computer
Kindle Cloud Reader

The Unfinished Revolution: Coming of Age in a New Era of Gender, Work, and Family 1st Edition

by
Kathleen Gerson (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Kathleen Gerson Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
Kathleen Gerson (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars 15 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0195371673
ISBN-10: 0195371674
Why is ISBN important?
ISBN
This bar-code number lets you verify that you're getting exactly the right version or edition of a book. The 13-digit and 10-digit formats both work.
Scan an ISBN with your phone
Use the Amazon App to scan ISBNs and compare prices.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest <Embed>
Buy used On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
$4.88 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
Buy new On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
$11.33 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
More Buying Choices
18 New from $11.15 41 Used from $0.01 2 Collectible from $14.95
61 used & new from $0.01
See All Buying Options
Smarter Faster Better
"Smarter Faster Better" by Charles Duhigg
A groundbreaking exploration of the science of productivity, that can help anyone learn to succeed with less stress and struggle, and to get more done without sacrificing what we care about most — to become smarter, faster, and better at everything we do. See more
$11.33 FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books. Only 3 left in stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently Bought Together

  • The Unfinished Revolution: Coming of Age in a New Era of Gender, Work, and Family
  • +
  • The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home
Total price: $23.30
Buy the selected items together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
Back
  1. The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home
    Arlie Hochschild
    4.3 out of 5 stars 17
    Paperback
    $11.97 Prime
  2. Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage
    Stephanie Coontz
    4.4 out of 5 stars 89
    Paperback
    $12.49 Prime
  3. Families as They Really Are
    Barbara J. Risman
    4.5 out of 5 stars 14
    Paperback
  4. Superdads: How Fathers Balance Work and Family in the 21st Century
    Gayle Kaufman
    Paperback
    $23.78 Prime
  5. Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, 2nd Edition with an Update a Decade Later
    Annette Lareau
    4.7 out of 5 stars 44
    Paperback
    $25.22 Prime
  6. No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women
    Estelle Freedman
    4.0 out of 5 stars 22
    Paperback
    $13.39 Prime
Next
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1 edition (December 15, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0195371674
  • ISBN-13: 978-0195371673
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 1.3 x 6.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,148,657 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsExplains so much about my generation
By RASalam on December 23, 2009
Format: Hardcover
I read Kathleen Gerson's earlier books (Hard Choices, No Man's Land) as a student and wondered when she would get to the generation that grew up with all the gender changes she discussed in those earlier books. Now married and in my late thirties (I'm a bit older than her subjects), trying to find a balance between home and work, I wonder how other members of this generation are coping with our "equality." Yes, we have it much better than previous generations and I'm well educated and have a rewarding career but even with an egalitarian-minded husband, I am primarily responsible for home and family and my husband is the primary breadwinner. Despite our liberal social attitudes, we find ourselves "slipping" into traditional gender roles despite our desire to resist them. Using in-depth interviews, Gerson uncovers the compromised and less than ideal experiences of my generation--I found so much of my experiences and those of my friends in her subjects. We start out with ideal expectations of 50-50 relationships and having non-traditional roles, but our structural circumstances (economic pressures, jobs, the overall culture, etc.) don't support egalitarian relationships so we compromise. Gerson also debunked the idea that hordes of Gen X and Gen Y women want to go back to tradition(if you're interested in that see Pamela Stone's "Opting Out.") Rather, this cohort who grew up with women's liberation, working moms, divorce etc, is trying to have strong committed relationships while pursuing their own career and personal goals and hopefully as a result, we will see larger social and cultural changes which support more egalitarian relationships. Gerson is a serious scholar but her writing is accessible to non-sociologists and it's not too jargon-heavy. This is a really interesting read (my sister's already snagged my copy) for anyone in this generation or wants to understand us (Baby Boomer therapists- take note!).
1 Comment 13 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent Read!
By A Reviewer on March 2, 2010
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Another great book by Kathleen Gerson! In her exploration of work, family, gender change among young adults, she concludes with two major findings. First, the families that are the most successful are those that are the most flexible. Rather than adhering to rigid gender roles, these families are able to adjust behaviors based on their families' particular circumstances, which are bound to change over the life course. Second, she finds that the majority of respondents (age 18-31) desire an egalitarian relationship, but that they are circumspect about their chances of actually being able to live their desires. They understand that competing demands from an inflexible work place and home make this prospect extremely difficult. So they settle for second best. Gerson breaks down how women and men come to conclusions about what is second best and why this differs by gender. These are big findings on a subject that tends to be driven more by ideology than by empirical evidence! This book is worth a read in order to understand how young men and women understand and react to the social factors that continue to make egalitarian relationships out of reach for most families. It is well-written and the interviews are enlightening for anyone interested in learning about how men and women make decisions about family life.
Comment 5 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsStudents enjoyed this read.
By no one on November 26, 2012
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Used this book as a supplemental reading for an college, upper level Marriage and Family course. Students responded well to it and found it to be an easy read.
Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
4.0 out of 5 starsUnfinished dreams
By beautifuldream on February 27, 2011
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Interesting read that provided insight into many questions that I have had about this generations views on marriage and family. Highlighted their lack of trust in government and public support in the family policy arena, and the need for collective action to bring about change. This was an especially interesting perspective, since many of the participants in the study also see the need for family leave (maternal and paternal).
Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsWas a good read!!!
By Steve Andre on February 6, 2013
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Read this for my Sociology class, and it was quite a cool read. Pretty informative - and I would recommend it. :)
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsOne of the Best Books about Families, Work and Change in America
By A Reviewer on February 18, 2010
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Kathleen Gerson's The Unfinished Revolution is itself a revolution in the study of families, work and gender. Beautifully written and deeply insightful, The Unfinished Revolution serves as an exemplar of what meticulously designed qualitative social science can achieve. The third in what is now a trilogy of books about family, work and gender, The Unfinished Revolution should be considered equal to her earlier classics--books that have transformed family research.

Gerson turns on its head the debate about which family form--traditional, dual-earner or single-parent--is best for children. Instead of examining family forms, Gerson investigates how families cope with change, finding that the most successful families, traditional, single-parent and dual-earner alike, are flexible in their response to change. This, in itself, is a significant departure from prior research and represents an important theoretical breakthrough in a contentious political and sociological debate. But Gerson does not stop here. Instead, in the second half of the book, she examines how young adults, "the children of the gender revolution," reconcile their hopes for more egalitarian relationships with the realities of inflexible institutions. While most hoped for egalitarian relationships, they also expected these goals to be unattainable and created gendered fallback positions, in which men were more likely to pursue a neo-traditional approach to forming families while women were more likely to seek autonomy if egalitarian relationships could not be found.

Like her prior work, this book will inform debates on families, work and gender for years to come. I recommend it highly to all those interested in family, work and gender.
Comment 5 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Required book for a class, but found it fascinating!

Published 5 months ago by Michelle
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Great Price, Speedy Delivery - Thanks!

Published 7 months ago by Tyler Souther
2.0 out of 5 starsFelt a little pointless.

I read this for a work-family course, and it just felt extremely unimportant to me. It was story after story after story that just kind of brought up different points and didn't... Read more

Published 13 months ago by Sergey Evangelista
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Good book, I recommend you read, came in good condition and on time. Thank You

Published 14 months ago by Freddy G. Castaneda
3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

Not the correct picture of the book, received an older edition.

Published 17 months ago by Mary DeWitt
2.0 out of 5 starsDefinitely one opinion

Based on a recent radio interview with the author on NPR I would not buy nor read this book. The book supposedly tries to descern how people are to live in todays society, have a... Read more

Published on October 22, 2012 by tloepfe
1.0 out of 5 starsNot very readable

Lousy information based on sloppy and poor reasearch. Purports to talk about families when most of the subject have yet to begin their own families.... Read more

Published on May 31, 2011 by GLS
5.0 out of 5 starsan important depiction of family change

This is an important account of how young adults have experienced changes in the American family over the last few decades. Read more

Published on February 18, 2010 by sociologist09

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

The Unfinished Revolution: Coming of Age in a New Era of Gender, Work, and Family
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more
This item: The Unfinished Revolution: Coming of Age in a New Era of Gender, Work, and Family
Set up a giveaway

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.